Tribute To A Warrior Princess

For the past two weeks, I spent a lot of time caring for Abigail, a longtime client whose people were out of town.

I’d been a petsitter for Abigail and her cat sister Audrey on many occasions, but this one was different. Abigail was terminally ill, suffering from liver cancer. Even though I’d talked to her mom, and she’d warned me about the changes in Abigail, the weight loss and other problems that arise due to the illness were still a shock when I first saw her.

The first few days of my stay with her, she was still able to go outside for potty breaks. I could tell it wasn’t easy for her, she walked slowly and had some difficulty getting up and down the couple of steps to get outside. As time went on, she became weaker and weaker, eventually unable to get up on her own.

It was so hard seeing her struggle, and I helped her as much as I could. Although she’d lost a lot of weight, it was still tough picking her up on my own, so I had to call on her vet to help periodically get her outside to go potty.

I cooked for Abigail and she enjoyed her scrambled eggs, turkey breast and broccoli. As it got closer to time for her people to return, Abigail grew very weak, and the vet was not sure she’d be alive to greet them upon their return. I talked to Abigail, and told her it was her decision on whether she wanted to fight to be able to see her people, or if it was too much and time to go.

Abigail made the decision to fight, and with that I promised her I’d do all I could to help her make that happen. With the help of a couple of other people, we got Abigail set up in a bed of sorts to make her as comfortable as possible. On the night her people were set to return, I kept talking to her, offering words of encouragement.

In true warrior princess fashion, Abigail fought hard and was alive to see her people when they returned Thursday night. She stayed until Sunday morning, when it was time for her to go.

Abigail, I will miss you, Warrior Princess! Rest easy, and I will see you again some day.